The team at Cody Cole Racing got a much-needed boost over the busy summer racing period when they scored a winning treble at Arawa Park on Thursday.
“We took six runners there and had three winners and two thirds, so it wasn’t a bad day,” trainer Cody Cole said.
“It is a tough time of year, there is a lot of racing, and all the staff are working hard through the holiday period when most people are on holiday. It is nice to boost morale and keep everyone chipper.”
Promising filly Scouser made a winning start to her career when taking out the Greenlight Insurance Brokers 1215 on debut.
Cole has a lot of time for the three-year-old daughter of Contributer and believes she is in for a bright future.
“She is very promising, it won’t be the last you see of her,” Cole said.
“She was late scratched last week after having a little niggle, which was nothing other than a bump on a leg that we nursed through the week. She is open to a lot of improvement fitness-wise and I think she will improve on figuring the game out too.
“She is a really nice filly. We can then start setting our sights a little higher. She will improve more on a better track too. Nabba (Michael McNab, jockey) said if she had a track she could ping off she would have put them away a lot easier as well.”
Cole was also pleased with the victories of Extortion and Anise in the Paula Short Memorial 1560 and Arawa Park Hotel Rotorua 1560 respectively.
“I didn’t think we would get to see the day Extortion would win another one. He is a consistent old horse, but he doesn’t pick them up often,” Cole said.
“He is a fun horse for the people that are in him. They have been patient and the win was well-deserved.
“Anise’s record is not that good but she is better than a one-win horse. She hasn’t had the best of luck and had a few issues as well, she is not the easiest mare to train.
“We have managed to find the key to her this season. Mum owns half of her and they deserve it. When you are patient and have one with niggles and have to stop and wait, it is more rewarding when they get the job done.”
Looking ahead to racing at Hastings on Sunday, Cole will take a quintet of runners south and is particularly excited about the futures of promising fillies Secret Life and Soraya who will make their debuts in the Happy Hire Maiden (1400m).
“Both are staying type three-year-old fillies, it is just whether they are going to step-up and be on an Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m) trail or not,” Cole said.
“I really like both of them and couldn’t really separate them on their work. They are just kicking off their careers but I think they should run well and take good improvement from whatever they do.”
Cole will be hoping to kick-off the new year in style when he heads to Pukekohe on Monday where he will line-up Navigator and Wet ‘N’ Wild in the Stella Artois 1400, and last start winner Kind Thoughts in the Ellerslie Events 1600.
“Navigator is a lovely horse, he just had a bit of a setback last week,” Cole said.
“He was quiet in himself and had a minor irregularity in his blood, so we just missed a bit of work. If he was going as good as we could have him I would say he is a very good chance, but I am not quite sure whether the little bit of work he has missed is going to take its toll.
“He is a progressive horse with a bright future and he’s got a handy horse’s record at the moment too.
“Kind Thoughts was really impressive when she won down at Trentham. We have always liked the mare and she wants to run over ground pretty quickly.
“It is a bit of a stepping stone to the Remutaka Classic ($350,000, 2100m) at Trentham. This is just an option to try and get a better chance of gaining a start. She is going to be a really nice stayer in 12 months time.”
